Work

Architected Bio‐Based Iontronic Skin With Dual‐Mode Pressure and Strain Sensing

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: ABSTRACT Human skin encodes pressure and stretch through the motion of ions, a principle soft iontronics reproduce but rarely on sustainable terms. Additive manufacturing has lifted ionogels from cast slabs into architected sensors, yet this progress rests on fossil‐derived acrylates, because plant‐based networks expel the polar ionic liquids that carry charge. Here we print an ionogel whose matrix exceeds 80% bio‐based carbon while stably hosting a hydrophobic imidazolium ionic liquid, resolving a long‐standing compatibility barrier. A single monomer ratio tunes stiffness 30 fold (9 to 0.3 MPa) and nearly doubles ionic conductivity to 0.53 mS cm −1 . Printed as gyroid lattices, the material senses pressure capacitively and strain resistively through separable channels: near‐incompressibility pins the gauge factor near 2 irrespective of geometry, whereas the lattice amplifies low‐pressure sensitivity eightfold and accelerates the strain response 4.6‐fold. On the body, both modes track joint motion with complementary signatures. Chemistry and printed architecture thus act as independent levers for renewable iontronic skin.

Source: Advanced Functional Materials

DOI: 10.1002/adfm.79432